Method and apparatus for deducing user intent and providing computer implemented services

A method of executing an operation on a computer system in response to high level information entered into the computer system, the method comprising the following steps:

• (a) creating at least one significant observation from information entered into the computer system, the types of information the computer is capable of receiving including user initiated events such as pen stroke entry and user preferences, and opportunistic events such as electronic mail and facsimile alerts;
• (b) interpreting the at least one significant observation as high level information recognized by the computer system, high level information recognized by the computer system including at least persons and times;
• (c) creating a significant observation set including the interpreted high level information, elements of the significant observation set being associated with possible computer operations;
• (d) comparing at least one element of the significant observation set with a database listing a plurality of computer operations and associated preconditions;
• (c) identifying one or more of said computer operations having a precondition such as a date of information entry, time of information entry, or originator of information entry, the precondition corresponding to an element of the significant observation set;
• (f) selecting a single computer operation from among the one or more computer operations identified in the previous step by finding the computer operation having the best agreement with regard to the significant observation set;
• and
• (g) executing the operation associated with the single computer operation if the preconditions associated with that computer operation have been satisfied.

A method of executing an operation on a computer system in response to an opportunistic event occurring in the computer system, the opportunistic events recognized by the computer system including at least fax alerts and mail alerts, the method comprising the following steps:

• (a) recognizing the opportunistic event by creating a significant observation set having at least one significant observation, significant events including opportunistic events and user initiated events such as pen stroke entry and user defined preferences for handling opportunistic events, the significant observation set being indicative of the opportunistic event;
• comparing the significant observation set with a plurality of plan templates stored in the computer system, the plan templates defining operations that can be performed with the computer system, the templates also having a plurality of associated preconditions and a plurality of associated predefined user preferences;
• selecting a single plan template from among the plurality of plan templates;
• and
• (b) executing the operation associated with the single plan template.

A computer program for executing an operation on a computer system in response to an opportunistic event occurring in the computer system, opportunistic events recognized by the computer system including at least fax alerts and mail alerts, the computer program being stored on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions for:

• (a) monitoring events occurring in the computer system;
• (b) recognizing the opportunistic event, the recognizing including the substep of creating a significant observation set having at least one observation of a significant event, significant events including opportunistic events and user initiated events such as pen stroke entry and user defined preferences for handling opportunistic events, the significant observation set being indicative of the opportunistic event;
• (c) comparing the significant observation set with a plurality of templates stored in the computer system, the templates defining operations that can be predefined with the computer system, the templates also specifying one or more steps associated with their operations;
• (d) selecting a single template from among the plurality of templates, the selected template having the best agreement with the significant observation set;
• and
• (e) executing the operation associated with the single template.